Adverse Childhood Experiences, Moral Disengagement, Anger Rumination, Cognitive Empathy Deficit, and Emotional Impulsivity as Predictors of Reactive and Externalizing Behaviour Syndrome among Adolescents in Mushin, Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined adverse childhood experiences, moral disengagement, anger rumination, cognitive empathy deficit, and emotional impulsivity as predictors of reactive and externalizing behaviour syndrome among adolescents in Mushin, Lagos State, Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. A sample of 502 in-school adolescents was selected through multistage sampling technique. Standardized instruments were used for data collection, while Pearson Product Moment Correlation and multiple regression analysis were employed for data analysis at 0.05 level of significance. The result revealed significant positive relationships between all independent variables and reactive and externalizing behaviour syndrome, with anger rumination showing the strongest correlation (r = 0.72) followed by emotional impulsivity (r = 0.71), moral disengagement (r = 0.69), adverse childhood experiences (r = 0.67), and cognitive empathy deficit (r = 0.60). The regression analysis showed that the variables jointly accounted for 61% of the variance in reactive and externalizing behaviour syndrome (R = 0.78; R² = 0.61; F = 78.32, p < .05). Relative contribution analysis indicated that anger rumination (β = 0.33) and emotional impulsivity (β = 0.30) were the strongest predictors, while cognitive empathy deficit made the least contribution (β = 0.21). The study concluded that reactive and externalizing behaviour syndrome among adolescents is influenced by a combination of early adverse experiences and maladaptive cognitive-emotional processes. It was recommended that school-based counselling and behavioural interventions be strengthened to reduce adolescent behavioural dysregulation.